Cedar Creek Falls: No jumping, no booze

RAMONA — The trail to Cedar Creek Falls in the Cleveland National Forest from the Ramona side, closed last year because of exploding popularity and overuse, will reopen this spring but under new, restrictive rules.

Hikers will be required to pay for daily visitor passes; the cliffs around the pool at the base of the falls will be off-limits; and the possession and consumption of alcohol in the area — at the San Diego River Gorge and Saddleback trailheads and along the San Diego River Gorge Trail and Eagle Peak Road trails that lead to the falls — will be strictly prohibited.

The trail that begins in the San Diego Country Estates in southern Ramona was closed to the public in July 2011, for several reasons all related to overuse, said Cleveland National Forest spokesman Brian Harris.

The falls in recent years — due partly to social media networking — had become as much a party destination as a hiking destination. Often hundreds of cars would line the streets around the trailhead’s parking lot, which has only 29 spots. The situation angered Country Estate residents. Trash would often be left behind, and unauthorized trails were being created by all the people, causing environmental damage.

Safety also became an issue. The number of rescues having to be carried out along the trail had skyrocketed as unprepared hikers wearing inappropriate clothing and drinking beer rather than water would fail to appreciate the difficult climb back up to their cars and become overheated.

And there had been a number of deaths at the falls over the years, often caused by people jumping or slipping from rocks above the pool.

“It was really just the overuse of the area in addition to degradation of our natural resources out there,” that led to the new rules, Harris said.

“Many of the visitors that were using the area were also consuming a fair amount of alcohol at the same time. We really feel that just the hike down there is hazardous enough that you need to be physically and mentally prepared and the use of alcohol in trying to make that hike to the falls is just not a good combination.”

A plan to deal with the overuse of the Cedar Creek trails had been under development for several years. Then on July 6, 2011, a 16-year-old boy from El Cajon died when he fell from a cliff. The trails were shut down a few days later until a full plan could be implemented.

The permit system and closures are scheduled to begin in early April. Until then the trail from the Ramona side will remain closed. Hikers now can access the Falls from the eastern side of Eagle Peak Road. That area was reopened earlier this year but is far less accessible.

The online permit reservation system has not yet been implemented, Harris said, and the details are still being worked out.

Initially 75 visitor use permits for individuals or groups of up to five people will be available each day by reservation. Each permit will cost $6.